Nearly 40% of Americans Fail Citizenship Test

In fact, when Newsweek gave 1,000 Americans the test, 29% couldn’t remember Vice president Joe Biden’s name, 73% couldn’t say why America fought the Cold War against the Russian communists and their allies, 44% were unable to define the Bill of Rights, and 6% couldn’t even circle Independence Day, July Fourth, on a calendar!

Newsweek also pointed out that, in a March 2009 test conducted by the European Journal of Communication, 68% of Danes, 75% of Brits and 76% of Finns could identify the Taliban, but only 58% of Americans could do the same – even though America has been fighting that Muslim group in Afghanistan since 2001.

Experts cited by Newsweek gave several reasons for why Americans fare so poorly in such tests.